We are back from our trip to the East Coast. We had such a nice time visiting my Dad and family at his place in upstate New York! We arrived in Albany, NY, on Tuesday evening. We rented a car and arrived at my dad's house late that night, making it a very long day of traveling. My grandparents had arrived earlier in the day, and my uncles, aunt, and cousin arrived on Friday.
Dan and my Dad did a bunch of projects around the house on our first couple of days. They finished up some electrical work to illuminate the kitchen with some new recessed lights. The refrigerator was brought into the kitchen. They also made a few trips to the hardware store in Gilbertsville for supplies to install the new oven.
I asked Dan what he wanted for lunch today, and he said, "How about egg salad with lots of garlic?" HA! We had fun picking the rows of garlic and getting it ready to be dried, and once we had earplugs for the early morning, we were happy to have chickens and a rooster around. We ate delicious omlettes, egg salad sandwiches, french toast, scrambled eggs, hardboiled eggs...all with a healthy dose of garlic from the farm.
One cool event was watching my Dad play center in his hockey game. The county fair was another of the highlights of the trip. There is nothing like a funnel cake and a ferris wheel ride! We also enjoyed a hike around his property, watching him milk goats to make yogurt, and watching the new Batman movie with my Dad and grandparents. The country around his house is simply beautiful: lush, green, rolling hills that are filled with flowers and wildlife. The lack of billboards and stripmalls makes every road a "scenic vista."
After we left my Dad's place on Sunday, we drove out through Massachusets to visit Boston. We drove through the "Big Dig," a couple of tunnels and a bridge that Dan had seen built on TV. We walked around Deer Island, which was at one time a prison, a fort, and many other things, but now is home to a giant sewage treatment plant with egg-shaped buildings and a series of nice walking paths. Downwind was a little smelly! Following the little hike, we drove to meet Dan's brother Tom and his wife Bridget outside of Boston in Fort Devensone, one of the many little towns. We had a nice late dinner with them, and our waitress was kind enough to sneak a few ice cream sandwiches from the freezer for us since the other desert places were closed.
On Monday, Dan drove us to Walden Pond, which was beautiful but did not have quite the restful and quiet mood that I expected. It was swarming with swimmers! Still, we walked around the pond and saw the site where Thoreau lived. Later, we took the "T" mass transit system into Boston. We took a narrated tour of historic Boston in a trolley that went to many of the sites along the famous "Freedom Trail," and then walked through the Common gardens slurping on a refreshing Italian Ice. That evening we met up with Dan's friend Chris and his wife Amy. Chris is about to begin his second year at the Berklee School of Music, and Amy is supporting him by working at a real estate brokerage. We had dinner, walked along the Charles River, and ended our evening by having THE BEST frozen yogurt that exists on the planet at a place called "Berry Line" in Cambridge.
Tuesday was a whole day of travel....The nicest part was getting picked up at the airport by Dan's brother David and his 3 year old, Ian.
We had a lovely trip, and we're glad to be home with our big dog and cuddly cats!
On Saturday, David and Diane brought the nephews up and we played in the snow a bit. As soon as he walked in the door, he proclaimed to Uncle Tom, "I'm not toast!" He spoke too soon, and the weekend of giggles and nuggies began in earnest.
The weather was warm enough to play outside, but there was still plenty of snow. Ian is growing like a weed, but he is still light enough to stay on top of the snow mounds. Diane and I weren't so lucky, but we warmed quickly by the fire inside.
On Sunday, Ian helped Oma frost the cinnamon rolls for breakfast while the boys went for Starbucks (how lucky that they found one open on 'Christmas'!). Afterwards we opened presents and watched some football. Ian was thrilled to watch Uncle Tom open the present with the plane (and airline gift certificate)-- amazingly, he managed to keep the gift a surprise until mere moments before we opened presents!
Even Cinnamon got some love on the festive weekend. Fun was had by all, although perhaps David and Diane would have wished for a little more sleep! Merry Christmas part 2!!!
